


Alone in the Dark

by Beastthemaestro



Category: Black Bullet
Genre: Age Difference, Angst, Confusion, M/M, Mutual Non-Con, Romance, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-18 04:59:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4692947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beastthemaestro/pseuds/Beastthemaestro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before Satomi Rentarou sent Hiruko Kagetane sinking into the ocean's depths, he had never wanted to actually kill the man. Rentarou was the type of person that would see punishment done for someone's misdeeds, but he wanted to avoid death as much as possible. It's now been almost a month since his death, and the young Promoter isn't sure he can forgive himself for the man's death, until he gets an unexpected visitor in the night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Visitor

Rentarou laid in the darkness of his room, underneath the thin blanket that somehow managed to keep him warm through the night. He lay on his side, staring at the wall; he was thinking, thinking about that mask. The mask that had been so close to his own face on too many occasions, though the young man would never admit that it wasn’t nearly enough times as he would like.

Enju wasn’t in his room as she usually was, which was odd, but he didn’t let it bother him. She is a strong girl, and he knows that. He had always tried to get her to stop clinging to him 24/7, but being alone in his room now was strange.

It didn't feel right that she wasn't there. A stubborn young man like Satomi Rentarou would never admit to any of his fears, especially his fear of the dark. He hadn't liked the dark ever since the operation that gave him the varanium limbs. He was put under with anesthetics; he didn't like the idea of having something in his body that forced him to go to sleep. When he was completely submerged in slumber, he found himself surrounded by open space, there were no walls and no ground; there was nothing but the dark. The darkness seemed to cling to him, every shade of black that he hadn't even known were possible sank deep into his skin, so deep, in fact, that no amount of scrubbing or scratching would ever hope to free him of its influence. He liked having Enju with him because of this. He didn't want to be alone in that terrible darkness.

There was another thought that didn't make him feel so alone though; a thought that made him feel like the darkness hadn't touched him in the first place. The thought that Hiruko Kagetane was out there in the cold, cruel world, and he is alive somehow comforted him.

Rentarou could feel his eyes widening a bit at the thought, if he wasn't paying full attention to his own imagination so tentatively, he would have punched himself square in the face for thinking about that man. But this night he needed to feel better and apparently Kagetane was the only thought that would bring him solace.

The young man was well aware of the shame welling up inside of his stomach and he let out a low groan before rolling onto his stomach and shoving his face hard into his pillow. "Why him? Him of ALL people..."

The moment his face made contact with the soft material of his pillow, he began to nod off, his eyes slowly closing as his thoughts of Kagetane took over his mind.

It hadn't even been ten minutes and the young Promoter was stuck in a light sleep, tears rolling down his cheeks.

His thoughts had brought up a feeling that he never wanted to feel again, that sickening feeling of guilt and self-hatred that he had felt when he took the masked man’s life. He never wanted it to come to that, but he had no choice, it was either kill Kagetane, or risk the survival of all mankind.

As the young man wept in his sleep, the door to his room slid open and a shadow stepped forward into the room, and one step closer to a sleeping Rentarou. It moved closer until it was at his side. The figure crouched down and looked at the weeping form in the bed. The shadow reached a hand out to the young Promoter and spoke. “There’s no need to cry, Satomi-kun.” It had a man’s voice. He gently let his gloved fingertips trace the tears off of the boy’s face before leaning down closer to Rentarou’s ear. “That last kick kind of hurt, you know, Satomi-kun.” His voice was low and smooth and it was just enough to make the sleeping Promoter open his eyes wide and sit up with a gasp.

Rentarou barely looked at the figure before he rushed out from under his blanket and headed for the light-switch with a hurried clumsiness. The lights switched on and there he was; Hiruko Kagetane. He was so close to the side of the young man’s bed and it made him wonder how long the ex-civil officer had been there unnoticed.

The young Promoter was locked in the madman’s stare, and he found himself almost unwilling to look away. He was afraid that if he blinked, he would be gone, and he would find himself alone again.

Those golden eyes called for Rentarou, they made him feel like he was the only one on the planet that the older man could see. Satomi could feel his eyes welling up with fresh tears as he lowered himself to his knees. Kagetane tilted his head to the side and chuckled the same way that he used to, before…

“I… I thought I killed you!” His voice shook as his words fell from his lips and he clenched his fists against the floorboards, trying so dreadfully hard to not voice his relief.

“You know I wouldn’t let you kill me that easily, don’t you, my friend?” He laughed again, this time it was so  _him_ , and Rentarou could tell that he was definitely alive.

The young man didn’t even think to go for his gun this time, what he did was something that he never thought he would do in a million years. He stumbled forward in a crawl and hugged the man.  Holding onto him for dear life, Satomi buried his face in his shoulder and cried. A sentence fully consisting of curses and ‘Kagetane’ was muffled into the man’s tailcoat, and Rentarou hated himself for doing this and showing weakness to the enemy. The man he was holding was evil and he knew it, but right now, all he cared about was the fact that the man didn’t actually die by his doing.

The older man grunted at the contact and looked down at the blue-haired young man before him, but he remained quiet. Satomi was the only one that Kagetane wished he wouldn’t have to see cry; the ex-civil officer had kept tabs on Rentarou and had watched him when he was alone; that was when it usually happened. The young man would break down, over what he used to wonder, but now, being here with Rentarou, the answer is clear. Naturally, this surprised Kagetane, but he didn’t show it.

As if needing to stop himself from weeping, Rentarou looked up at the older man through his tears and spoke. “You… You are actually here… right? This isn’t a dream?” His eyes were pleading and filled with hope.

He didn’t answer for a moment; he instead shifted Rentarou in front of him so that the young man was inches away from his mask and staring into his eyes.

Rentarou wiped his eyes with the back of his right fist and held the gaze, calming himself down enough to furrow his eyebrows into his usual angry expression to at least hold onto some of his dignity.

At this, the older man chuckled and reached his hand out to him. “Give me your hand, Satomi-kun.”

That was one of the last things that he would want to do he told himself, but he did it anyway. The feeling of his skin against the soft material of the man’s glove sent a shiver down his spine. He had always wanted to know what they had felt like, and somehow, the warmth that Kagetane emitted made it even more perfect. It made him so believably  _alive_. “Wait-… What are you doing!?” Rentarou asked quickly, he didn’t need an answer in words anymore. His hand was pressed against the older man’s chest, over his heart. The young Promoter shut his eyes and tried to feel a pulse through the other man’s clothes and skin. He didn't feel anything; it wasn't there, and Rentarou could feel the disbelief and anger welling up inside of himself as the tears he thought he shook came back with a vengeance. 

Rentarou exhaled sharply through clenched teeth and withdrew his hand. He was so overwhelmed with anger that he didn’t even register what happened in his mind during the few seconds before his pushed Kagetane onto his back and straddled his waist. Looking down at his masked face he cried, “Do you think this is some kind of fucking joke?!” The young man was sobbing out his words, the tears that fell from his eyes landed with light pitter-pattering sounds against the white, smiling mask.

Kagetane chuckled and gestured for Rentarou to lean down closer to him; Rentarou doesn’t move. “Satomi-kun, I am alive… though you may not believe it… I would never lie to you.” He grabbed the young man’s wrists and repositioned the two of them. The young man is now the one on the floor, the older man leaning over him, their faces just inches away from each other. “If you think so little of me, then I might as well be dead, shouldn’t I?” Kagetane was smirking around his words and it was all  _too_ audible. “You and I both know that you don’t want me dead though, why is that?”

Rentarou’s eyes were wide and shocked out of the sadness and anger. His breath came out shakily and he forced himself to look away; he would never admit that he was blushing, but deep down in his subconscious he was trying to tell himself that he didn’t like any of what was happening. Both he and Kagetane knew that that would be a lie though.

The older Promoter released the younger man’s wrists and sat up straight. “Well, Satomi-kun? Would you like me to say it first?” He tilted his head and watched as the other sat up as well.

The two both know that on a normal occasion Satomi Rentarou would rather die than admit that he liked Kagetane. However, now is not one of those times. The man had come to him in his sleep after coming back from the watery grave where Rentarou had left him, and now he expected the young man to not admit how he feels? Kagetane should know by now that Rentarou was never one to back down from a challenge. “No, goddamn it. I like you.”

This made Kagetane laugh, louder and more powerfully than Rentarou had ever heard him laugh before. “Only ‘like’, hm? Come now, Satomi Rentarou… you and I both know that you’re hiding something.”

Rentarou blushed angrily and stood up. He stomped over to the light switch, flipped the lights off again and then returned to his spot in front of the man in the mask. Just to test the waters, the young man reached his hands out to feel for the edges of the older man’s mask. When he found them, he gave the mask a light tug, and it easily came off. He placed it aside and got on his knees to better reach other man’s lips. Rentarou placed his hands on the man’s shoulder and looked before him at the now shadowy figure in the darkness. “Uhm… Bear with me for a minute.” The young Promoter slid his hands up Kagetane’s neck and to the sides of his face. Satomi brought his face up to the other man’s and used his thumbs to feel for the corners of his mouth. His skin was normal from what Rentarou could feel, there may be a few scars hidden somewhere, but he didn't want to find out about them just yet.

Kagetane, growing impatient, took it upon himself to close the gap between them. His arms snaked around Rentarou’s waist and he tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss. He listened to the sounds that the kiss elicits from the young man as if they were the last thing he was ever going to hear, and he chuckled against his lips.

Rentarou’s arms were already around the other’s neck and he was trying to keep himself as quiet as possible, but one of Kagetane’s hands slid smoothly down to his ass which was covered only by the light fabric of his boxers and he let himself believe that the whimper that came from him was only in his head. The older man took the opportunity to slip his tongue into the younger Promoter’s mouth and deepen the kiss further, as if he wanted to devour Rentarou.

The 16 year old moved his hands back to the other man’s shoulders and gave a light push, his lungs ready to explode from the lack of air. Kagetane obviously understood this and he pulled out of the kiss with a low hum. The young man’s heart was pounding as he panted, breathlessly. His face was hot and he could only assume that every inch of him was bright red. “Ka-Kagetane…” He spoke through heavy breaths of air.

The older man laughed, it was almost  _human_ sounding, but something told Rentarou that that just wasn’t possible for someone like Kagetane.

“Satomi-kun…” His voice was barely higher than a whisper, but in the silence of the night in that dark room, the young man could hear him perfectly. “You’re lucky that I really do like you. Not just anyone can take off my mask and live to tell about it.” He chuckled and folded his arms in the darkness which was audible through the sound of his clothes rustling.

Rentarou froze at that.  _He could kill me if he wanted… but he doesn’t want to?_ He thought to himself as he stared at the figure before him. Finally, he decided he would do it; he was going to confess to the other man how he actually felt. “Li-Listen… Kagetane… I don’t know what’s going to happen after I say this, and I don’t really care right now… so you better not fucking laugh at me!” He takes a deep breath and straightens out his back as his sits up with an all too familiar grumpy expression. “Hiruko Kagetane… I lo-“

A young girl's scream rippled through the open air and Kagetane had his mask back on in one swift motion, Rentarou gasped and shot up to his feet. “E-Enju…” the young man breathed out her name in worry and rushed out of the room and straight into his Initiator’s quarters. “Enju!” He thrust the door open, the older man close behind him, and saw Enju’s form standing on her bed in a stance that screamed ‘come any closer, and you’ll regret it.’ There was another figure in the shadows, it was Enju’s height. Rentarou slammed his hand against the wall and switched the lights on, and there at the side of the young girl’s bed, a blue-haired child stood, swords drawn, and a smile plastered on her face.

“Kohina,” Kagetane spoke from behind Satomi, his hand discreetly pressed against the small of the young man’s back. “I thought I told you to stay at home.”

“Come on, Papa! You said you were going to see an old friend, and I wanted to do the same!” She looked over at her father and frowned.

Enju shouted at the other young lady, “He is not Rentarou’s friend, and you always try to kill me! We are not friends!”

Satomi flinched at that and stepped further into the room, “O-Oi! Listen, girls… calm down.” He took a deep breath. He looked back at Kagetane who must have been staring at him the whole time, because they immediately made eye contact and Rentarou gave him a look of pained confusion. _If I tell Enju that I want to be with him, she’ll kill me… and so will Kohina… but if I don’t tell her then it’ll be hard to hide._

As if he understood the Rentarou’s thoughts the older man chuckled and stepped out from behind him and made himself that protective barrier that Rentarou was desperately looking for. “Lower your weapons, daughter of mine,” this earned him a short-lived protest from the blue-haired girl, and then he looked over at Enju, “and as for you, young lady. There will be no rash actions and you will listen to what both me and Satomi-kun have to say, understood?”

The rabbit model threw her hands up in protest and shouted, “Hey, mister! I don’t know who you think you are! I only listen to Rentarou, see?!”

“Enju.” Rentarou pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled to himself. This quieted her down, “E-Er… Kohina and Kagetane are going to stay the night, all right? He and I have a lot to talk about.” The older man looked back at him, his golden eyes filled with intrigue.

A grin spread across Kohina’s face and she practically squealed, “I’m going to sleep with Enju tonight!”

Enju yelled to Rentarou, “What?! Rentarou, if I’m gonna be woken up in the middle of the night by another woman who wants to kill me, then at least let us use the TV to watch Tenchu Girls for a little while!” This was Enju’s way of making friends. She would have other little friends over and she would immediately turn on Tenchu Girls. If they liked it, then they were A-Okay in her book, if not, then they had some things to get straightened out.

“Is that okay with you, Hiruko-san?” Rentarou inquired as he stepped forward next to the taller man.

“That should be all right. Kohina, there shall be no sword-play, are we clear?” He chuckled softly and turned slowly to leave the room, but stopped to add a quick, “Have fun. Good night, you two.” He held his hands behind his back and walked out after that.

Rentarou walked over to the two girls and kneeled down and gave Enju a hug, “Goodnight, Enju. Behave yourself, okay? Be nice.”

Enju hugged him in return and managed to land a nicely placed punch to the young man’s head which made him yelp. “That’s for not telling me that we had company!” She pouted and stuck her tongue out at him. He couldn’t help but chuckle as he rubbed his now throbbing skull. He quickly turned his attention to Kohina. He turned to face her and took a deep breath to try and keep his fear at bay. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the young girl. “Goodnight, Kohina. Have fun, okay? Uhm… if you need anything just ask Enju or me, ‘kay?” He released his light hold on her and gave a soft smile.

Kohina smiled back and whispered almost menacingly to him, “Be nice to my Papa.”

Rentarou grunted and couldn’t help but nod. _Geez, this kid is terrifying._ He thought to himself before he turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door so that the girls were left in peace. The older man wasn’t anywhere to be seen in the connected room, so quietly, Satomi called out to him. “Hiruko-san?...” He checked the kitchen. _Not here._ The TV room was going to be occupied by the girls, so he wouldn’t be there, but he checked anyway. “Oi, Kagetane!” Rentarou raised his voice only slightly since he lived in an apartment building and didn’t want to get in trouble. _My room, he’s gotta be there._ The young man walked through the dining room and slid the door to his room open. “Kagetane?” The room was empty. He took a few steps further into the room and looked around in the darkness.

“I like it when you call my name, Satomi-kun.” The older man was in the doorway, behind Rentarou.

Startled, the young Promoter stumbled backwards slightly, a light pink color staining his cheeks. He sighed after a moment, and went to sit back down where he had been sleeping earlier. “You could have just asked me to say it, you know, you didn’t have to scare me.”

Kagetane straightened up at that and walked over to sit beside Rentarou. “Would you really have done that for me, I wonder, or would you need some persuasion?” The mad man was smirking as he let his words slide smoothly out of his mouth.

Rentarou’s eyes widened and his face flushed a vibrant shade of red. He knew that he shouldn’t have said what he did, and now he knew he was in for a long night, but at least he wouldn’t have to go through it alone.


	2. Call me Rentarou

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rentarou finds himself having a midnight dinner with the enemy.

They sat beside one another in the dimly lit room, doing little more than looking at each other. “So, how long have you been active since, uhm…?” Rentarou didn’t know exactly what to call their last encounter since he tried to avoid mentioning it, unless it was for work purposes.

“… Since our last meeting?” The older man interjected, shifting his gaze from Rentarou to his gloves as if he needed to count each stitch that it took to keep them together.

“That works.” The blue-haired boy rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish laugh.

Kagetane hummed in thought, moving his right hand to his chin, tapping his mask with an audible  _tap_ , _tap_ ,  _tap_. “Hm… Let’s see. The exact date is escaping me, but it had to have been about two weeks.” He nodded his head once as if needing confirmation for himself.

“Wow…” The young man carded his fingers through his hair with a look of disbelief. “You really do heal quickly.” He lowered his head and looked at the ground as he spoke. “Y’know… I was a little worried that you were actually dead.”

The masked man chuckled at this and lifted his head up, looking at the light on the ceiling. “A little...? You and I both know that that’s an understatement, Satomi-kun. When you come home from school every day and immediately go into your room and cry, you should be using a term with a little more power to it-“ He stopped talking after that, he knew that he had said the wrong thing when the younger man’s eyebrows furrowed and he ground his teeth behind closed lips.

Rentarou yelled and threw a punch aimed at Kagetane’s jaw. The attempt was valiant, but fruitless; the masked man caught his fist without so much as turning his head. “You were spying on me?!” The young man was furious; he stood up in front of his enemy and crossed his arms across his chest, glaring down at him with his robotic eye activated. “You couldn’t tell me that you were alive, but you could watch me fucking fall apart?!”

His eyes were wide with anger and the tears that lined them were ready to go spilling down his face if he’s didn’t stop them soon. Rentarou shut his eyes tightly with a deep breath before opening them again to look down at the man in the tailcoat who was silent before him. The older man shifted his legs and in one fluent motion, he was on his feet, his hands held behind his back as he looked deep into the blue-haired boy’s eyes. Rentarou locked gazes with him and could immediately tell that he was not smiling. He was absolutely and inhumanly silent.

 _Left shelf, bottom drawer. Left shelf, bottom drawer._  The young man kept his gun there when he wasn’t working or feeling paranoid, the only problem now was that a mechanized soldier blocked his path to it.  _Maybe if I_ -

“Satomi-kun.” His thoughts were interrupted by the older man’s voice. It was low and smooth; it was just enough to make Rentarou stop and need to hold back the grunt that would potentially breach his lips if not caught soon enough. He was now focusing completely on the mask. “Do you really believe that you wouldn’t have attacked me anyway, if I had, in fact, come to you in your time of need?” The older man took a step forward and leaned forward towards Rentarou. “I am the enemy, after all…” He chuckled slowly with a hint of triumph as if he were saying, 'Check and mate, my friend,' before standing up straight again. The shorter man growled at this because he knew he was right. Kagetane and his daughter were both enemies of mankind, so, Rentarou would naturally have no choice but to apprehend the man unless Seitenshi-sama had cleared him of all wrongdoings; this was not likely going to happen anytime soon.

“God damn you.” Rentarou grumbled out angrily and clenched his fists tightly at his sides before taking a deep breath. He calmed himself down just enough to take the tension out of his brows; his face plastered with a grumpy expression.

“There’s no need to do any more damning. You and I both know what awaits me in the end.” He spoke as if he didn’t really care about the fact that, if there was a hell, he would find himself first in line for a chat with the devil.

The young man wasn’t very religious at all, but he found himself wondering, ‘ _Where will I go?’_  He shook his head and tried to rid his mind of the thought. Trying to avoid conflict and keep his apartment from ring destroyed, Rentarou quickly tried to shift the conversation in a different direction. “So, uhm… Are you hungry?” He was well aware of the fact that it was the middle of the night, but he didn’t really care, he just wanted to get this night finished without incident; he also knew that cooking would help him simmer down.

The masked man said nothing as he followed the blue-haired boy into the kitchen/dining room. He leaned himself back against the kitchen counters next to the sink and crossed his arms over his chest.

In the bedroom opposite of Rentarou’s, a fast paced song with a high pitched female voice came, loud, out of Enju’s pink rabbit speakers. This made Rentarou sigh to himself, reaching for his apron to fasten it around his waist. “I Hope the children’s music doesn’t bother you too much…”

Kagetane shook his head and looked in the direction of the room while he spoke. “Not at all. Kohina listens to things like this when I let her use my computer.” Though Rentarou couldn’t see it, he could hear it; the older man was smiling at the thought of his daughter. It didn’t sound like a smile that was sharp around the edges, it sounded soft and… happy?

 _Huh… So he does have a heart._ The young man got to cooking, but had to turn around when Enju slid her door open and ran out with Kohina, both girls swaying their hips to the beat of the song and holding their hands above their heads, batting their fingers up and down.

They sang in unison, “Så kom och, dansa med oss, klappa era händer. Gör som vi gör, ta ngåra steg åt vänster...” Rentarou glared at Enju who just smiled back at him as if she knew that he hated it and kept singing. This cursed song was one that the young man would find stuck in his head for days on end, and had many a time had to stop himself from humming. Then he heard a chuckle to his right, the older man beside him was pleased with their performance and had started tapping his foot along with the song.

As hard as the high-school student tried, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling at the girls, his brows knitted in an ‘I hope you’re happy’ sort of fashion as he watched.

At the end of the show girls finished with the last line of the song, “Nu är vi här med, Caramelldansen!” Both Rentarou and Kagetane were clapping and laughing, and the girls held hands and took a bow.

Once the young man calmed himself down enough he cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow suspiciously, “I’m glad to see that you two are having fun together and getting along.”

Enju perked up as if remembering a past war and raised her fist. “Rentarou, you didn’t tell me that you were replacing me with Hiruko-san, you idiot!”

The young Promoter froze and put his hands up as if to protect himself from any attack the girl would potentially throw, his brows furrowed. “Enju, no-“

He had no time to finish his thought before the young girl had her hands on her hips and was standing in front of Kagetane. “Listen here, mister! If you think I’m gonna let you steal Rentarou from me, then you got another thing coming!”

As if he had been stuck in thought, Kagetane shook his head a bit before laughing behind closed lips; he looked over at the young man who had turned himself away and switched off the stove to keep the food from overcooking. 

Rentarou cleared his throat, refusing to make eye contact with the other three in the room. “Enju, what possesses you to say the things you do?” He sighed heavily before turning around to face the two young girls, his face a faded shade of red. “Listen, you two,” he coughed into his fist to hopefully lure their attention away from his flustered features, “it’s time for bed, okay? Oh, and Enju, lend Kohina some pajamas, got it?”

“Sure thing, captain!” She saluted him, before taking Kohina’s hand and practically skipping into her room, shutting the door behind her.

Rentarou rubbed his hands with the dish cloth; a heavy exhale escaping his lips as he transferred the food from the pot to two bowls. He carried them over to the table, gesturing for the taller man to take a seat across from him.

Kagetane took his place at the table where the younger man placed his food; he was across from Rentarou's bowl. "So Satomi-kun..."

"Rentarou. Call me Rentarou." He sighed, as he sat down at the table.

Kagetane went silent for a moment before lifting his bowl and turning around with it; his back facing Rentarou. He took off his mask to take a spoonful of his food before reversing the process and facing the younger man once more. "Very well... Rentarou."

The rest of their time alone at the table was filled with questions as to how Kagetane had survived and how Rentarou could have killed him, but decided not to. When they finished their meal the blue-haired boy lead the older man into his room once more. He laid down the ground rules about his bed. They were to sleep back to back facing away from one another; Rentarou knew that this wouldn't really matter since they only had a few more hours of darkness left. 

He told the older man about the rules because, even though he would never admit it, the young Promoter is a cuddler while he sleeps and he can't for the life of him make it stop.

As Rentarou had planned, they laid back to back, "Goodnight, Kagetane."

"Goodnight, Satomi-kin."

"It's Rentarou." He said with a sigh before he shut his eyes. 

After what felt like a few minutes, Rentarou rolled over and right into the arms of the masked man, as if he'd known that the young man would give in to him. Rentarou hated himself for it, and would never say it out loud, but he probably would give in to Kagetane even if it was only for a night.

As the darkness slipped away and a dim light started to coat the room, Rentarou lay there asleep in the arms of his enemy. His enemy who, despite having stayed up with the young man for hours, was wide awake; staring at a small crack in Satomi-kun's wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for being so patient with me and supporting my story!! I love you all and I greatly appreciate everything! There might be more chapters to come, I haven't decided exactly where the story is headed. Also, I typed it on my phone so my editing wasn't what it could be, so if anyone finds any errors don't be afraid to tell me!! C:  
> <3


	3. A Clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Rentarou wakes up alone and finds that Kagetane and Kohina have vanished, he struggles to find any clues that will lead him to them.

Satomi Rentarou, a mechanized soldier and Promoter, woke up late in the morning to find that he was the only one in his room. His tired mind had barely remembered Kagetane being there in his home last night, but the more time Rentarou had to think, the more he remembered. The young man felt a pang of shame and fear rush through him, I remember the girls singing that song and then going into my room, but did we-... Oh fuck. He took a deep breath and looked down at his body expecting to find himself at least half naked My pyjamas? I don’t remember putting these on. 

A moment of silence overcame his thoughts before he launched himself out of bed, his eyes wide and fully awake. He put these on me! But where the fuck is he?! Rentarou’s thoughts were racing too quickly for him to process anything around the room or his own memories.

“Maybe it was just a dream…?” The young man’s heart sank slightly in his chest as he stood there alone in his bedroom.

It took him a few seconds more of just standing there stuck in thought before he remembered the dinner they both shared. “The sink!” He shouted quietly to himself. He realized that if there was going to be any proof that Kagetane had been there, it would be his plate in the sink.

The student slid his door open and crashed through the dining room, hitting his shin on the low lying table. With a muffled cuss he made his way over to the sink and fell completely silent. There was only one plate in the sink and it was Rentarou’s. He could tell it was his immediately due to the fact that there was a patch of a crispy residue that was stuck to the dish where he had put a burnt piece of meat.

“What the fu-” He was startled out of cursing by the sound of a door to his left sliding open.

Enju stepped out of her room in a nightgown and tried to rub the all too noticeable sleep out of her eyes. “Mornin’...” She yawned out as she took her place at the table which was now slightly skewed.

After watching the young girl yawn, he found it impossible to not yawn himself. “Oh, uh-... hey, Enju.” He spoke in a weary voice.

“What’s for breakfast today, capi-tan?” He sat with her chin resting on the table, not even trying to make eye contact with the Promoter.

Breakfast? What is she-... Oh, shit- that’s right! Satomi-kun had forgotten that she hadn’t had the late-night meal with him and hadn’t thought that she would be hungry. “Uhm…” He shuffled around the kitchen, finding little more than eggs and bread. “French Toast sound okay?” He looked back over his shoulder at her only to find that her head was now making full contact with the table and her breathing was slow. Enju was sleeping. I wonder when she went to bed. The young man wondered silently.

With heavy eyes slowly blinking and longing for sleep, he got himself set on making Enju’s breakfast. His apron was haphazardly tied around his waist, the knot tied in a way that looked like it would come undone if the wind so much as blew, and by the time her was finished cooking, the ties were dangling down in front of him like he hadn’t tied them in the first place.

He shuffled over to the table, holding a plate of three pieces of french toast covered in syrup for his young Initiator. Placing the plate down in front of her, he sat down across from her with a loud sigh. This woke the sleeping girl.

“So, Enju…” Trying to get the topic onto Kohina and Kagetane, “... How’d you sleep?”

She lifted her head and let out a groggy, mumbled, “Fine.”

That wasn’t a good enough answer for him, so he decided to push forward. “What about Kohina?”

Enju shoved a forkful of her breakfast into her mouth and chewed slowly, her eyebrows knitting together in thought. “I dunno…” She spoke through her food before swallowing. “I think she lept fine, I mean, she woke up early enough to leave without me noticing…”

A wave of relief crashed over Satomi-kun. So he hadn’t been dreaming, this was good, but where had they gone so early in the morning? Where were they now? But more importantly, why did they leave?

He took a minute to look around the room for anything that could be out of place or missing, though he knew that they weren’t really thieves. Still, he scanned the room from his spot before asking, “Did Kohina say anything about where they were going?”

“Nope.” She deadpanned and ate some more of her food, staying silent as she did so.

“Enju, come on, help me out here.” He sighed out and lowered his forehead to the table.

“Done!” She patted her stomach and rested an elbow on the table with a pleased expression. “All right, Cap’n.” She gave a determined smile. “Now, we can talk.”  
Rentarou looked up and narrowed his eyes at her. “Gee, thanks, I’ve only been trying to do that for the past twenty minutes.” He groaned and sat up, rubbing his face with both hands.

“Listen, bub, it’s hard to concentrate on an empty stomach!” She argued, pointing her index finger at him.

“Fine, fine, whatever… but since it seems that neither of us know where they could have gone, we’ll need to search every room in the house, okay?” He looked at her seriously.

“Aye, aye!” She said, saluting him enthusiastically. “I’ll start in my room!” She stood up and just like that, sprinted the short distance to her room, the door shutting behind her.  
“Wait Enju, put your plate in the-...” He hadn’t finished what he had wanted to say, but it didn’t matter, she was helping him look and he was grateful for that. He stood up in his spot, grabbing her dirty dishes and dropped them in the sink, all the while looking around for anything suspicious.

He walked toward his room, a sense of shame and also calm overcoming him. He had let Kagetane into his home, into his room, and into his bed. It was so wrong and so fucked up, but when it was happening, Rentarou didn’t mind, he was even happy with the man by his side. And knowing Kagetane’s habits as a criminal, the young man understood that he wouldn’t leave without giving the Promoter some clue as to where he was going; unless he didn’t want to be found, of course, but Rentarou knew that this wasn’t the case.

The blue-haired boy stepped into his room and scanned the obvious areas first, the ground next to his futon, his dresser, his desk. Nothing was out of the ordinary, and everything seemed to be right where he had left it.

Rentarou plopped back first onto his futon, taking in how cold and empty it felt without the other man there beside him. He lay there, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, trying to think. Then he got an idea. What would have been looking at from here? He thought to himself as he scooted into Kagetane’s spot and stared at the wall. A crack in the wall? He hadn’t remembered when that had popped up, but he was sure that he noticed it once or twice and it somehow managed to slip his mind.

He sat up and analyzed it for a second, there seemed to be something sticking out of it; a folded piece of paper. This could be it, the clue that he was looking for! He quickly pushed himself off of his futon and onto the floor, crawling on his hands and knees towards the crack in the drywall. Rentarou reached forward, grabbed it carefully with his index finger and thumb, and unfolded it, trying his best not to tear it. He got through the first fold, and moved on to unfolding the half-folded sheet once more. This was it, the moment of truth, he would have the means of tracking down Kagetane and his daughter. It was all on this tiny paper, wedged into a crack in his wall.

“Rentarou!” He heard shouted in the distance, maybe a room or two away.

Satomi-kun yelped and jumped to his feet with a start. He had been so engrossed in the tiny slip of paper, that he had forgotten that Enju was even home. His heart was pounding loudly in his ears and he took a moment to let out his ragged, heavy breaths. “Wh-” He sighed, trying to calm down. “What is it, Enju? Did you find something?”

“You bet I did!” She trotted quickly into his bedroom with a piece of construction paper in her hands. She seemed happy as she stood there in his doorway.

“What is it?” He raised an eyebrow at her inquisitively.

She turned the paper around in her hands and gave him a full view. “Kohina must have found my arts and crafts chest last night while I was asleep.” The construction paper had a drawing two men standing next to each other on the left side and two girls standing next to each other on the right side. It was easy to tell who these people were. It was Kagetana and Rentarou, and Enju and Kohina. They were standing in front of a big dark mansion, it was colored in reds and purples, just like Kagetane’s suit. That must be their house. He thought to himself, but he understood that Enju was thinking the same thing. “It’s a cute drawing,” she spoke, “but I would put myself next to you instead.” She smile and let out a playful giggle, earning herself and disgruntled sigh from her Promoter.

“Oh, I found something too.” He had almost forgotten about the paper in his hand. Rentarou lifted it up and unfolded it fully now, studying its contents thoroughly; the paper had letters on it, written in precise pen writing. The letters were strange looking, they were twisted and didn’t look normal.

Enju, who only had a back-view of the paper tilted her head slightly to the side. “What do those numbers mean?”

“What? What numbers?” He questioned.

She snatched the paper from his hands and got onto her tippy-toes. She had the writing facing her, and she held it up to the light. “These numbers.” She was right, they weren’t letters, they were numbers written backwards.

He took the paper back from her and spoke, “They seem to be some sort of coordinates.”

“What do you think it leads to, Rentarou?” She placed the construction paper down on the young man’s dresser.

“I’m not sure, but I think I have a pretty good idea.” He put the scrap of paper on top of the drawing, right next to the red and purple crayon house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is kind of short, I wanted to get a filler chapter done as quickly as possible so that you guys wouldn't lose hope! C:  
> So here it is! I'll try and get chapter 4 done by this weekend or this coming Monday. Again, thank you guys for supporting me and my writing. I hope you guys have a lovely day. Stay tuned! c: <3

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time uploading anything on this site. I noticed that there is a huge lack of KageRen content, so I've come to contribute!  
> Any constructive criticism? Feel free to tell me! C:  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Black Bullet or any of the characters. I am just a big fan of this anime and the KageRen ship. c:


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